


Lone Digger

by the_lie_eternal



Category: Auf Streife
Genre: AU, Comfort, Dreams, Friendship, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Police, Runaway, chosen family, gay af, homeless au again, policemen at work, poor jonas, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:20:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27525238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_lie_eternal/pseuds/the_lie_eternal
Summary: Jonas has lived on the streets for 14 months when he meets Martin. He would've never believed how much this random meeting would change his life forever.
Relationships: Jonas Schmidt & Martin Fuchs, Moritz Breuer/Jonas Schmidt
Kudos: 3





	Lone Digger

I watched the silver-blueish patrol car driving down the street, hoping that they hadn't spotted me in any way. I knew that nobody possibly could've seen me stealing the needed money a few days ago, but paranoia lived inside of me ever since I finally could flee from the place I once called home.

I counted the handful of coins I pulled out of my jacket, not even enough to survive the next three days but I would have to handle it somehow. I got used to it, living on the streets for 14 months and counting.

The flashy lights shining into my eyes, the fact it was in the middle of the night and the black eye I carried around for 2 days now made me feel uncomfortable, one of the few moments I'd rather not become a runaway but then again - bruises from the streets are better to endure than bruises given to you by your own family.

I was so distracted by my own sensory overload that I didn't notice how I stumbled right into a guy standing on the sidewalk - usually I signed a contract with the devil every time that happened but for some reason, the guy didn't start a fight the second I accidentally ran into him.

"Hey, are you okay?" his rather deep but somehow soothing voice reached my ears, but for some reason I still became scared of him. He was a tad taller than me, grey hair combined with a goatee in the same color, countless tattoos visible below the rolled up sleeves of his jacket and what stood out the most was his weathered face, that man had seen some shit.

Not a single sound left my throat, too big was the fear that he would beat the shit out of me if I said something wrong.

"You seem hurt, I just want to help you." he continued, gently grabbing both of my shoulders to have a better look into my face. I knew that I didn't look quite healthy, and the soothing feel of someone caring spread inside of my body but my anxiety screamed louder than that.

"I'm ... Felix." I stuttered. It had always felt quite weird to basically become someone else, a name I picked up on the streets to protect myself and anyone belonging to me.

"Felix, hi, I am Martin. You don't look good, do you have a place to sleep?" he asked, and that question almost shot tears in my eyes, these words were toxic to me. I shook my head, suppressing to show how weak I was in front of this stranger.

"Are you homeless? At this young age?" he guessed and once again I only replied with a nodding motion of my head. My body told me that I could trust this man, that he wouldn't harm me, but the common sense I built during my time on the streets kept me from accepting his help.

"Alright, I know what you're thinking and I know that I am the least trustworthy looking person around here but I want to help you. I can see your struggle, even if you don't say a word to me." Martin explained and that's when my head gave in, when I thought about sleeping in a warm bed and maybe getting a nice tasting coffee again after months of shitty canned one.

I felt awkward next to this man, afraid that anyone would see me with him and judge him. Dragging my bag behind me we walked up the stairs to his flat in this fancy four-family house. I only heard the words guest-room, getting some rest, help, I couldn't process more as I became more exhausted with every further step. Martin chuckled as he looked at me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder to both calm me and support my walk. When was the last time someone cared about me like this, when was the last time I hugged someone?

I didn't remember ever crying this hard in my whole life, not because I was sad, no. The bed I was laying on felt like pure cotton clouds, the smell of the freshly brewed cup of coffee on the nightstand gave me this soothing feeling of a _real_ home, and basically this was the first time since I ran away that I felt comfortable in my skin again - freshly showered, groomed and shaved. I cried because I was thankful, because I never thought that this would happen to me and I was just waiting for the moment this dream would be over and I find myself back among smelly trash bags, woken up by rats trying to eat my hair.

My phone told me 14:00 as I sleepily opened my eyes, being confused about the unfamiliar sight around me. The guest room was rather small, but still had everything needed placed in it. _I could live here_ I thought. A smile formed on my face as I saw that the empty cup was taken from the nightstand and the small stack of my freshly washed few clothes laid on the chair next to the small table. I barely remembered what happened the night before, and the fact I slept for half a day told me that I desperately needed a proper bed after all these months.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." the still soothing voice of Martin reached my ears as I stepped out of the room, said man was seen reading a small notebook, crappily scribbled "Martin Fuchs" on the cover with a sharpie.

"I seemingly needed it, alright." I chuckled, placing myself on an armchair on Martin's opposite, waiting if he wanted to say something - which he also did, laying the notebook onto the table to cross his arms and lean back.

"So, I already said this yesterday but ... I know that this is odd given by the fact I don't know anything about you, still you can stay in this guestroom for as long as you wish. I'll help you get off the street, I would do anything in my power to get you back on track, because it hurts me to look into your wounded face." he explained and I needed some quiet seconds to process.

"You serious? I can stay?" I muttered, staring into Martin's weathered face, on which he nodded with a smirk, and the next thing I found myself doing was half laying on top of him, hugging the hell out of him - I couldn't contain my feelings and I really didn't want to.

Martin had to laugh, and the way he patted my back felt as if he stucked all the pieces that broke inside of me back together. Why me, what did I do to deserve this?

Then, after I was back on the armchair, it creeped up to me again that Martin still thought my name was Felix Borchert. I had to be sure that he wasn't a bad guy, but both my head and my tummy agreed on the fact that he was trustworthy and if he wanted to help me, he should know my real name, I decided.

"So, Martin ... there is something I have to tell you right away." I stammered, I wasn't familiar with exposing my real name at all.

"Huh, yes?" he became worried right away, so caring and sweet.

"I hope that you understand why I did it, and that you aren't angry with me because I lied to you ... my name is actually Jonas, and not Felix." it came out in chunks, and I watched how his brows raised, a surprised look on his face.

"Safety reasons, I guess?" he asked, I nodded.

"It's safer for me to not travel with my real name ... but if we ever meet someone calling me Felix, please don't expose me either." I explained, and the other man was oddly understanding, not mad at all about my lie.

"Jonas ... a pretty name, I have to say. Your surname?" he wondered, and at this point I might as well give him all my important data because if he would be my support, he would find out everything about me anyway sooner or later.

Martin gave me a handful of conditions that I had to follow if I wanted to say below his roof, basic stuff like helping to keep the flat tidy, promising to keep my belongings sorted and, what he stressed the most, that I shouldn't even think about committing any crimes as he reacted toxic on that, for whatever reason. I agreed with all of it and didn't complain, after all it would help me getting my life back on track just as much as Martin's help on all the paperwork I had to do - which was a mass that probably needed a few months to be handled.

It had been around two weeks since I moved in with the stranger that soon became my closest friend. He was at work most time of the day (I didn't commit further to what he was working as, just the fact he was gone for what seemed an eternity daily) but every free minute was spent with me and my issues. I didn't tell him yet why I even ran away from home in the first place, but on the opposite I knew that there was something inside of him that forced him to take me in. We both weren't this far to expose our deepest feelings yet, but I didn't mind. As long as he kept being the help I desperately needed, almost as a caring parent that I never had ...

"Jonas?" the familiar voice sounded through the small gap in the door and I hummed, a sign for him that he could come into "my room".

"I'll be spending the evening with a handful of my colleagues, and I would be glad if you come with me." Martin smiled, and I saw how much he hoped that I would agree. The majority of my bruises were healed, and I was comfortable enough with Martin to basically follow him around to meet his friends, so I nodded.

"That actually sounds very nice!" I agreed and his smile widened.

"Amazing. You have to be ready in two hours, don't forget it!" he stated, leaving my room again.

"I won't." I called after him, continuing to tap around on my phone.

I knew that Martin wouldn't force me into uncomfortable situations, but I still felt weird walking behind him into this bar, which seemed a little shaggy from the outside but actually turned out to be a place with calming atmosphere. It was also quieter than in most public bars in Cologne at this time of the day, they must've chosen it wisely.

The table already had four people sitting around it, I stood back as Martin greeted all the other men with a hug, but quickly he pulled me closer again to introduce me to everyone.

"So, this is Jonas, the guy I told you about. He needs some friends and I thought that you guys would be the perfect bunch to start with." he explained and said people cheered, then Martin introduced me to all of them.

Ben was the first one, a tall blonde with a scruffy beard covering his prominent face, quite intimidating but he quickly softened up as he spoke to me.

Next in the row was Florian, dark yet short curly hair both on his head and in his face, seemingly the friendliest at first sight and that also solidified in conversation.

Right next to him sat Robin, tired yet friendly blue eyes looking into mine, carefully combed light-brown hair with a stubbly beard were the most outstanding features of him. He was the quiet one, I immediately saw that, yet he was also heartfelt with a strong personality, I liked that.

Then ... last person in the group, and I had to keep myself together to not stare mouth hanging open at him. Moritz was tall, very light-blonde hair, sparkling icy blue eyes framed by a perfectly shaped, sharp face. We didn't take our eyes from each other as we shook hands, his voice was so rough yet soothing ... I wasn't familiar with the feeling anymore, yet this either was me instantly falling in love with someone I just met - or pure lust that was suddenly craving for this man. My chair was also placed right on his opposite, no idea if that was a curse or a blessing.

"Hey." came from the man in front of me as I followed some conversation of Ben talking about his fiance, which was apparently the topic of the evening. I looked at Moritz, his eyes made me weak.

"Hi." I replied, feeling myself blushing - so embarrassing.

"You're so quiet, just listening for now, huh?" Moritz smirked, his fingers restlessly tapping the bottle in front of him.

"Yeah, yeah. After all I don't know any of you yet." I chuckled, trying to hide the fact how nervous I happened to be. I didn't even remember when I had this feeling for the last time.

"Oh, that will change soon, trust me." he laughed, looking back at his friends yet I kept staring at him. Was that an innuendo or did my head play games with me?

"Breaktime!" Martin exclaimed after another while of following conversations, both Florian and Moritz agreed, whatever it meant, and the three men got up from their seats. No idea if I imagined it, but for a second I thought that I felt Moritz brushing over my shoulder as he passed me, but maybe that was also just my head.

"You like him, huh?" Ben asked, nodding at where the three men just left. Robin wasn't paying attention to us as he drowned into his phone. I nodded, feeling my face heating up again, but Ben was humorous about it.

"Go get him, he likes you too, trust me." he winked at me, turning towards me.

"Can I ask you something?" I said, receiving raised brows with a nod of Ben.

"I can't quite follow all the fuzz, is Erik your fiance? Or did I understand you wrong?" I stated, getting a laugh from both Ben and Robin. The blondie grabbed his phone, pushing it over the table with his wallpaper visible. Portrayed there were obviously Ben and next to him another guy, a bit smaller than him, a big smile on his blonde bearded face.

"That's Erik, so-called love of my life. Basically why I am so mad about him is the fact that now that we are engaged, he thinks that he can get on my nerves almost daily and try to trigger my borders. I know that he's just trying to find his place in our relationship, but he's such a pain in the ass. I love him so much, but sometimes I can't handle him at all." Ben explained, surprising me. Well, I only knew Erik from what Ben told in the past hours, but he actually seemed to be a nice guy seeing the picture. Well, looks didn't tell anything about one's character either.

We heard the other three guys returning and Martin looked quite proud as he saw how I talked to his friends, but I only had eyes for Moritz again and the words Ben said earlier returned into my mind. Our weird stare-duel continued at times, but as the hours passed I felt myself becoming tired, quite overwhelmed by everything. That didn't go unnoticed by Moritz as he spoke up "I think our rookie is a little bit tired, care if I get you home?" he asked, brushing his fingers over my hand laying on the table. His eyes were burning, blue fire ignited like hell as he looked at me. Martin patted my shoulder and I nodded.

"I hope I can bring him to our hangouts more often, maybe he'll catch a few of the other guys too then. Have a _good night_ , Jonas." Martin stated and the way he stressed the last bit of the sentence made me realize that my heart eyes might've been way too visible. I said goodbye to Ben, Robin and Florian, hugged Martin and then followed the blondie outside after he too hugged all of his friends. It was a weird silence during the little walk to his car, a fancy black Audi as it turned out to be. Both of us placed inside of it, Moritz first of all looked at me, now properly grabbing my hand to entwine our fingers.

"You're someone special, else Martin would never take some stranger off the streets in with him. Remember that, pretty boy." he muttered, tightening his grip before letting go of me to start his car. My whole face was burning, blushing like I never had before. Did he just call me pretty? Does he ...

I didn't even wonder why he parked off his car in front of Martin's flat instead of just dropping me off, and I felt more than flushed as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, walking up the stairs next to me. No words were spoken, but at that point they would've been redundant anyway.

***

I was freezing when I opened my eyes, wondering why exactly I didn't wear any clothes but then I remembered with whom I spent the night before and it made me smile. Wrapping myself into my blanket, I grabbed my phone off my nightstand just to see a yellow sticky-note placed on it.

_"Up for a coffee after shift? Text me."_

I started to giggle as I read the phone number written below, I couldn't imagine a day starting better than this.

I felt a sting going through my heart as I spotted the familiar blondie in the distance, walking up to the cafe which I was waiting at. He looked exhausted, yet happy to see me and I stood up to greet him. He immediately went for a hug, but quickly I heard him whispering "Can I kiss you?"

I chuckled, looking into his eyes before I leaned in, feeling his gentle lips against mine. He was the one, I knew it, I just knew it. I hoped that he would feel the same, that he would like me and we would get to be something.

We sat down at the table, joking about the previous night when Moritz started talking about his day.

"You won't believe how many people all at once can start fighting with each other, I think all of my cases today were people hitting each other in the face, I'm so tired of it." Moritz sighed as he buried his face in his palm. Cases? People fighting?

"What?" I muttered, getting a confused side-eye from him.

"What what? People like punching each other." he laughed and it creeped up to me that Moritz might've not been as perfect as expected.

"You ... wait ..." I stuttered, looking at him as if I saw god himself.

"You didn't know that I'm a policeman? You haven't noticed that Martin is a policeman either?" he started laughing, but as he noticed that I looked everything but cheerful about that revelation he quickly calmed himself, grabbing my hand that was laying on the table.

"Are you okay? No good experiences?" he asked, and the way his eyes shimmered told me that he was honestly worried about my well-being.

"I've ... my god, did I ... shit." I stuttered, tightening my grip. As much as I disliked the mere fact that I loved, kissed and slept with a policeman, Moritz was somehow calming the same feelings that infuriated me. I was living with a policeman, all the new friends I made were policemen ...

"Hey, I won't hurt you." he muttered, placing his other hand on my cheek.

"I've ... Moritz, living on the streets is hard and ... I've done some shit. Don't tell Martin, please ... don't hate me, I did it to survive." I stuttered, trying to explain myself in front of one of the people I hated the most. Our relationship could had been so perfect ...

"If it's only that." Moritz chuckled, pulling my hand upwards to press a short kiss on it. "Just because I am a policeman doesn't mean I am as strict as you might think. Also there's a difference between trying to survive and trying to take an advantage. I won't tell Martin, no worries." he hummed, and I felt a stone falling off my chest.

"I never really ... like, I never really had problems with your kind but ... so you're not that bad as everyone has always told me?" I stated and I suddenly felt so guilty. Moritz wasn't playing games with me, he was too honest and caring.

"It's okay, bad reputation is common but we are just people like you. You met my colleagues, you don't have to be afraid of any of us." he exclaimed with a smile. I heard horrific stories on the streets, people being beaten up and pushed in the dirt by policemen. I never expected them to be like Moritz, like Martin - hell, like any of the guys I met the day before. I felt betrayed by my kind, by the people on the streets.

"Well ... this is weird to say but ... I still really like you. You're handsome as hell and incredibly nice from what I know, and my perception of people is pretty trustable." Moritz muttered after a silent while that we just looked at each other and I could feel how my face reddened up. I had to get something straight before I would dedicate to him, something that Martin already knew but was actually more important for Moritz to know.

"Listen, this is important even if it sounds ridiculous. I like you too. Hell, I love the shit out of you but if we are ever out in public, like this, and someone comes up to me and calls me "Felix" please, for the love of god, don't correct them or expose my real name." I hissed, always feeling quite ashamed to have some kind of double-life going on. I was surprised to see him understanding, the same reaction Martin gave to me.

"Noted. Everything for your safety." he nodded, now grabbing both of my hands on the table, adding in a whisper "Can I kiss you again?"

I rolled my eyes, pulling him closer as I huffed "Please don't ask, just do it." and ending up in yet another amazing kiss between him and me. I was still hoping that it would work out - that I would soften up to the fact policemen ruled my life now.

I grew closer to them, both Martin and Moritz, still quite not understanding why someone would take me in easily like this, why someone would date and love me - and why it had to be policemen. Yet I quickly jumped over my shadow, why should I suddenly stop trusting them just by getting to know what their jobs are.

I loved the look in his face as we sat together on the couch in the living room, him placed on my lap. His pink lips glistened from the deep and passionate kiss we just shared, his breaths were short and desperate and his hands ran all over my hair, neck and shoulders. I had my hands below his shirt, feeling him up by his soft skin on his torso.

"I don't want you to leave." I whispered, now taking one of my hands to brush his messed up blonde strands off his forehead. Moritz smiled, grabbing my chin with his hand.

"Why don't you come with me then. Martin's shift will end in a few hours, he can take you back home." my partner suggested and I had to smile.

"You got to show me around, then." I grinned. It felt surreal, to agree to visit a real police department without commiting a crime. A small step for mankind but it was actually a giant one for me. I felt uncomfortable around police uniforms.

"I will." he hummed before he leaned back in, burying us into yet another long and desperate kiss. Moritz could make me do anything, just with a blink of his pretty blue eyes I was entirely his.

I grabbed Moritz' hand as we approached the big building standing proud among the rather weathered surroundings.

"It's okay, Pretty. Nobody will hurt you." he hummed as he comforted me by brushing his thumb over the back of my hand. I usually wasn't the one to initiate us to hold hands except when I became nervous, so Moritz knew exactly what was going on inside of me.

"This is so weird." I muttered, feeling how my chest tightened the closer we got to the entrance. Stepping into what always felt like literal hell, why did I do this again. I stopped walking as I stood in front of the stairs leading upwards to the glassy door and the huge window next to it.

"Jonas." my boyfriend rolled his eyes, pulling me up the steps. I was trembling, feeling as if I faced my greatest fear.

"I ... I ..." I stammered but Moritz just pulled me further, the buzz-sound of the door opening numbing all of my feelings.

I blinked, realizing how stupid I must've looked like, being dragged into the department by a policeman. I saw a man standing in front of me, behind a big wooden counter. He had a mixture of dark and grey, curly short hair, a messy beard on his face which framed a welcoming smile. I gulped as I eyed his uniform - a policeman.

"Watcha brought there? Picked him up on your way?" the policeman asked with a smile, scanning me from top to bottom. Moritz just laughed, wrapping his arm around my waist.

"That's Jonas, my pretty boyfriend, and he's got some policephobia, it seems. Jonas, that's Tobias!" my partner pointed at the other policeman, who politely held out his hand. I put my trembling hand in his, immediately feeling the strong grip.

"Nice to meet you! You can call me Tobi too, it's fine." Tobi still smiled. He wore the uniform of a policeman but was nice to me? How could it ...

"Would you perhaps take care of him for like five minutes until I changed?" Moritz asked his colleague, receiving a nod. Then Moritz vanished through the very same door we just came in, running down the staircase.

"You're the guy living with Martin, am I right?" Tobi asked, leaning his arms onto the counter. I took the moment to look around myself, up and down the hallway of the department that seemed so much more intimidating just a few seconds ago.

"Did he tell each of you or ..." I raised my brows, I wasn't quite comfortable with too many people knowing about my whereabouts.

"Martin and I are good friends, he just mentioned that he took in some poor soul and that Mo showed interest, so I guessed it would be you then." the policeman nodded, yet seemingly randomly leaning forwards, looking through the door.

"If you mind taking a seat really quick, the boys are coming in with some work." he exclaimed, pointing at the wooden seats a few meters down the hallway. I followed his instructions, heading to sit down and watch what was going to happen. I didn't even realize how my fear of police uniforms seemingly vanished in just a second, but as the door opened my head was anyway occupied with something else.

First I just spotted three men, two in uniform and one in regular clothes. I immediately recognized one of the policeman as Robin, whom I already met in person before. However, the second policeman was unknown to me, my eyes fixed on him as he was keeping down the resisting suspect, leading him into office number 6. I couldn't properly see his face, but the glimpse I had gave me goosebumps already.

Robin gave me a short smile as he followed his colleague into the office, closing the door behind him. My eyes still fixed onto the place where the unknown policeman stood, I didn't notice how Moritz returned, now standing next to me.

I literally let my mouth shamelessly hang open as I eyed the man standing in front of me. He wore plain black shoes, a neat dark-blue pair of pants, a light-blue buttoned shirt with a white t-shirt below and his hair was groomed almost perfectly. I looked at his heavy weapon-belt, chuckling as I thought how it accentuated his hips with all these bags and most of all the intimidating gun attached to his right.

"Oh god." I murmured, unable to move.

"You can call me Moritz, it's okay." he smirked, grabbing my hand to pull me upwards.

"I think ... I think I just fell in love with you for a second time." I almost whispered, gently brushing my fingers over the blue fabric. I could hear my heart beating, I didn't know what else to say except that I might've just developed an uniform-kink.

"See, they're not so bad after all." Moritz smiled, cupping my cheeks to press a short yet loving kiss onto my lips. I melted in his touch, wondering how in the name of heaven I deserved Moritz as my partner.

The sound of a door interrupted our gazes, I looked back to office 6 and remembered what happened before I helplessly fell for Moritz again.

The policeman silently stood in the hallway, his arms stemmed into his hips as he looked at my partner, shaking his head with a smile that looked insane. He was tall, dark hair neatly combed back combined with an accurately groomed beard. He wore the same clothes as Moritz, with the only difference that he wore a heavy looking protective vest on top of the shirt which had long, rolled up sleeves instead of short ones. Needless to say, I might've developed a tiny crush on the policeman right away.

"I'm getting mad." he chuckled, taking some breaths to seemingly calm himself down. With a questioning gaze he then nodded at me, after all he just saw Moritz making out with me as he came outside.

"My boyfriend who had never seen a police department from the inside." Moritz chuckled, pushing me towards the other policeman, only making me feel much smaller than I already had been.

"I'm Stephan, nice to meet you. I hope Mo treats you well. If he doesn't, hit me up." he joked, only hesitatingly I shook his hands. I wasn't aware that I could feel both attracted but also intimidated by someone at the same time.

"Jonas, likewise." I muttered, hating how nervous I probably seemed to all these policemen.

"I'm gonna get myself a coffee and then watch Rob handling that son of a bitch. Martin is out with Isa, ask Tobi how they are doing." Stephan stated towards Moritz, heading down the hallway to disappear through one of the countless doors.

I looked at my partner, who was giving me his adorable smile.

"He's really hot." I raised my brows, receiving an agreeing nod from Moritz.

"He is, he is." he chuckled, grabbing my hand now again. "Let's show you around then, until Martin returns. He will be so glad to see you." he added, gently pulling me down the hallway the same way Stephan went.

It had been the same shaggy bar we went to weeks ago already, once again I was invited to hang out with Martin and his friends for an evening. I confidently walked next to said man, wondering why I had been so extremely nervous at the first time. Moritz would be there too, just he already excused himself for arriving a tad later, so I knew that one person was still missing as we entered.

I could already spot Ben, Stephan and two unfamiliar faces, yet Martin introduced me to them right away. Arne first, smaller than me with wildly combed short dark-blonde hair and a messy stubbly beard covering his face, although he seemed very friendly - I would find out later why he already knew more about me than I probably wished for. The second one was Tom, neat short blonde hair and a fancy beard framing his face, as broad and intimidating as Stephan but he also quickly turned out to be a sweetheart. Martin placed himself on my opposite for this time, keeping the last seat free for my boyfriend.

I followed some more conversations, now even having the context of all the police-speech, which made my participation much easier. I didn't even notice someone approaching, only as the round became silent and Arne stared behind me with an open mouth, I turned around to see Moritz himself - not noticing at first what was so shocking about him. There was a faint smile on his face as he placed himself on the chair, now looking into my eyes as he whispered "Hey, Pretty."

His right eye was framed with a deep blue color, a fresh black eye.

"I ... I really didn't mean to!" Arne stuttered from across the table, jumping up to walk over to my partner, wrapping his arms around him.

"It's alright, it heals. You know that you can just tell me if you don't want to be my best friend anymore?" Moritz now smiled and patted Arne's cheek. So that's why the older man knew so much about me, Moritz probably told him _everything_.

"You guys hit each other on duty or what?" Stephan asked with a raised brow as Arne returned to his seat, I felt Moritz' hand grabbing mine below the table. To be honest, he looked quite hot with a wound like this in his face, as much as it also hurt to see my lover injured.

"Today at the last case of early shift, Arne and I were handling some really exhausting fellas and then mister Schneider himself accidentally hit me in the face with his elbow as we tried to sort things out. I only realized how bad it was once I got home and saw myself in the mirror." Moritz chuckled, the group joining him. It was fascinating for me, how easy-going he thought about that whole situation, as if things like these happened daily in the life of a ... policeman.

"Guys, I guess I have to ask something." I murmured in a silent moment, taking all attention on me immediately. I read about it for several nights, watched as many videos as I never did in my whole life just to come to a conclusion that even shocked myself - the lost abandoned young man who hated everyone and everything and most of all the executive.

"I'm thinking about becoming a policeman." I stuttered, immediately blushing in a deep red as I saw my friends faces. I had to look away, burying my face in my palms. Bad idea, bad idea, bad-

"I knew this would happen." Ben chuckled, strongly patting my shoulder. They were not ... laughing? They were appreciating it? What?

"Told you that you're an inspiration!" Tom stated at Martin, who just shook his head with a smile in disbelief. The group kept talking but as I shifted my head to look at my partner I blended out everything that was around me. His head leaned on my shoulder, a seemingly tired smile playing on his face but I felt that something was wrong with him.

"Moritz?" I raised my brows, now taking his face in both my hands to have a closer look at him.

He hummed, and I too would've thought that he was just exhausted from the day wouldn't he be literally my boyfriend. His injured eye flushed from white to red, the black spot around it was seemingly swollen and I could feel the heat that it spread into his whole face.

"Are you two okay?" It reached my ears again but I couldn't tell who asked.

"Can one of you help me get him into his car? I'm getting him to the hospital." I stated, ignoring what happened minutes ago or what anyone around us thought. Moritz needed professional help, that was the only thing counting in this moment.

Stephan jumped right to my side, supporting Moritz' stance (who kept saying that he felt okay and didn't need any help) and I quickly dedicated towards Martin, who was more than shook about the whole situation.

"I'll call you when I know what's up, okay?" I stated, receiving a nod from him, together with a raised pair of eyebrows.

"But you ... do have a driver's license, yes?" he asked, making me actually chuckle.

"I do. Imagine driving the car of a policeman while wanting to become one without a license." I stated, Martin nodded with a smirk and I walked after Stephan and Moritz who had already left the bar.

"I'm okay." Moritz kept muttering, holding his head which probably hurt.

"You're not. Shut up." I concentrated on the road, figuring out where again the hospital was located while my partner kept complaining silently. He was of stubborn nature, that's what I liked about him but in this moment his health counted more than anything else.

"Pretty, this shit happens all the time." he complained as I parked his Audi in front of the hospital, I turned to my side, grabbing him by the chin so he would look at me with his still functioning eye.

"I love you, Mo. Don't ask me to watch you suffering, I want to make sure everything is alright." I stated as calmly as I could, still my anger about his stubbornness was well audible, to which he finally gave in.

"Alright, then." he sighed, flinching together right after as another wave of pain reached his face.

"Don't leave me alone." Moritz huffed as the nurses wanted to take him to get an x-ray of his skull, him still holding onto my hand.

"You're in good hands, I will call Martin in the meantime." I calmed him, pressing a short smooch on the back of his hand before he was placed in a wheelchair, getting brought out of my sight and in a hallway behind a well secured door.

"Fuchs?" the comforting voice reached through the speaker and I immediately felt some ease through him.

"It's Jonas, promise you I'd call." I chuckled, placing myself on one of the chairs in the waiting room.

"Thank god finally, we're worried about both of you! What's up, is Mo doing alright?" Martin asked, I heard Arne mumbling something inaudible in the background.

"They're doing an x-ray of his skull right now but the doc said that probably nothing is broken but he wants to be on the safe side. He's still exhausted, turned out he has pretty bad headaches, that might be the cause." I explained, hearing relieved sighs coming from our friends.

"Take care of him, okay? I trust you on this." Martin stated, I nodded even though he wouldn't be able to see it.

"I would never disappoint you." I replied, feeling an odd warmth spreading inside of my body.

I smiled as I saw my partner being rolled back into my view and the relief he had on his pained face told me that everything was going to be fine, which the doctor would confirm a few minutes later.

"He'll be sleeping at our place, at least for today." I talked into my phone as me and my partner were back in his car, yet Moritz feeling less pain than before as he was holding a cooling pad against his face.

"That's alright, you two are inseparable." Martin chuckled "I guess nothing is broken?"

"He's got a contusion on his eye that began swelling, it should be fine in three days again, until then he should stay home and monitored, if the wound somehow gets infected or similar." I explained Moritz' medical condition, hearing a positive huff from the other side.

"Good. I'll call Arne and tell him everything's alright, he's been going crazy since you left. I'll wait at home for you two. Stay safe." Martin made sure, I thanked him and looked at my partner after hanging up.

"You're a good driver." my lover smiled, I saw the small sparkle in his eye that told me exactly what he wanted in this moment. I leaned in, carefully pressing a short kiss onto his lips before I would start the engine. More would be saved for later, I muttered.

Moritz stayed silent for the drive back home, at times I caught him even staring at me in awe - which made me feel certain things and Moritz knew that exactly.

I loved the feeling of his short blonde hair flowing through my fingers as I brushed over his head. We were sitting on the couch, Moritz resting on my chest as we were watching some series together with Martin.

"You meant it serious, the whole police thing?" Martin asked, watching me as I myself was looking at my boyfriend who tried to keep himself awake. His eye was still reddened, the bruise would stay for quite some weeks but at least his headaches and swelling stopped. The question made him raise his head, though.

"Yes, I've talked with Mo about it, many times." I chuckled, brushing my palm over his cheek as he smiled at me. "He told me everything I should know before making that decision, I thought through everything and came to the conclusion that it might fill my life with a new reason, now that I already found a new family." I explained, the other man nodded.

"I like that, I really like that." Martin now laughed, shifting so we could talk better with each other, the series on the TV already forgotten. "I'm also ... touched that you call me your family ..." he added and I could see that something began struggling inside of him, something that had to be said sooner or later.

"Pretty, why did you end up on the streets? You never told me." Moritz now jumped into the conversation. Images began flashing in front of my eyes - no good memories.

"My ex-family, they abused me, to make it short. I wear the scars everywhere, on my skin just as on my soul. I always had to fight, for my whole life I was running and fighting and trying to stay alive. I'm glad that I found Martin and you, Mo ... you're the family I never had but deserved, for the first time in decades I don't have to fear my own people." I stated, suppressing my emotions as I wouldn't want anyone to feel sorry for me.

"Oh ... _oh_ ..." Moritz muttered, pushing himself up from me to look into my face properly.

"Once I escaped onto the streets I wanted to drop my old self, taking a new name I heard somewhere on some TV show. I almost forgot my real name, as sad as it was, but when I met Martin I felt so bad when I introduced myself as Felix. I blew my cover really quickly, I remember, as I knew right away that he was a man I could trust." I smiled at Martin and his cheeks blushed in a deep red.

"See, Jonas ... there's a reason why I was so welcoming to you." Martin now explained and it was visible how he tried to form his thoughts into spoken words.

"It's been ages ago, even way before I met Moritz, when I was actually too still having a family - a wife, a pretty son. Making it short, she took everything once we parted and I haven't seen my son in over 15 years. Jonas, when I saw you for the first time it felt like a part of me returning, I was well aware that you wouldn't be my son but something told me that you're just like him." Martin explained, making my heart clench together. I unwrapped myself from my partner, shifting over to Martin who began sobbing to pull him into a needed hug from both sides.

"Thank you for stumbling into my life." he whispered into my ear with a pained yet loving voice. I had to smile.

"I'll have to thank you, _dad_." I replied, feeling his arms tightening even more.

-

I sighed, brushing my palms over my face. It was going well. Martin and I would only call each other son and dad, Moritz and I had been in an almost perfect relationship for over two years and my grades at police school were above average. Ben happened to be my advisor at my internships, my teachers believed in me and all doors stood open for me, even at Inspektion 5 where my chosen dad and partner worked. My life finally went the way I wished for, something worth living.

I groaned silently, throwing my phone onto the bed I was sitting on, tired of the videos I watched to study.

"You remind me of my time as a cadet." Moritz chuckled as he watched my frustration from across the room. I had been over at his place, just as I was most of the time during important exam times. My partner sat behind his desk, writing a handful of reports while I was trying to study.

"I'm so exhausted. Why am I even doing this?" I whined out, maybe it was supposed to be like this. Feeling exhausted as a police student right before being thrown into the real world of police work.

Moritz smiled, stacking his papers together to walk over to join me on the bed. I found his hands cupping my face, brushing his thumbs over my cheeks.

"Once you have the star on your shoulder it will be fine, once you can stop watching tutorials and reading useless books. Being a policeman is fun, trust me." he stated, staring into my eyes to read a reply out of them. I nodded, getting hold of him to pull him into a kiss that gave me at least a little hope. His faint, stubbly beard felt amazing against mine as we deepened, the way his tongue fought its way into my mouth already told me enough about the desires of my partner. I would have agreed on relieving some stress, yet I wasn't quite in the mood to give Moritz just as much intimacy back as he would give to me.

I sighed once again as I was laying in bed with my partner, holding him in my arms while he was busy with his phone. It wasn't particularly late, only early night and both of us had a dayshift in front of us, yet we didn't quite felt like doing something else than laying in bed together and close to each other.

"Are you still disquieted?" Moritz muttered as I calmly watched how he tapped an "I love you" in our chat with each other.

"It won't entirely leave me still but I feel much better than before." I smiled, squishing my nose and lips against his cheek to give him a smooch which he gladly accepted. It felt odd for a moment, under which circumstances we met and how much I grew as a person since I ran into Martin that one horrible night. Moritz was a policeman, I would become a policeman ... if I would've met my past self he would disagree that he would ever turn into what I was.

Martin and I were just strolling through town to find a birthday present for Moritz as some uncomfortable feeling filled my torso but I couldn't yet make out what it was. Martin didn't notice anything, so maybe it was just my head messing me up.

_Felix_.

"Hey, Felix!" it rang in my ears and I felt as if my heart was ripped out of my body. I looked at Martin who needed a few seconds to understand what was going on. Oh how much I hoped that he would remember what I told him, that he should never ever correct anyone calling me by my undercover-name.

As I didn't react I heard it being shouted again, a person appearing next to me, grabbing me by my shoulder.

"Oh, hey." I muttered, trying to brush off how uncomfortable this situation was for me. A woman stood in front of me, a tad smaller than me with short, blonde hair, weathered clothes and a smell I was very familiar with.

"I haven't seen you in ages, where have you been?" she asked, eyeing my intact clothes, my clean shoes and the precisely groomed hair and beard.

"I took my life into my hands, obviously. Off the streets." I secretly pinched against Martin's hand, hoping that he would interpret my signs correctly.

"And who is this?" the woman asked, pointing at the other man.

"That's my dad." I sighed. She knew about my past.

"We have to go, Felix. The time." Martin muttered, patting my shoulder. I had to blink as he said my other name, it felt so wrong, yet I nodded.

"But I thought-" the woman stated as me and Martin began walking again, all I did was exclaiming "Times are changing." before we got our asses out of that whole happening.

"Thank you for not blowing my cover." I huffed, holding Martin's shoulder as we were out of danger.

"Who is she? Now you got to tell me." he replied, not even batting an eye on the "Felix"-incident. I chuckled, remembering the things I did roughly three years ago.

"Her name is Jess, still homeless as probably visible to you. We had been hustling around for most of my time on the streets, although she tried many many times to seduce me - which obviously wasn't a thing for me because I'm into guys. I don't think that she ever understood, but she's a good person at heart." I smiled, yet thinking about the fact that she never really got to know the "real" side of me and I had lied to her for over a year.

"What do you feel when you look back at your old life?" Martin asked, giving me one of these looks that you would only get from a _caring parent_.

"I'm glad to stand where I am now and I don't regret a single thing that brought me to this exact place."

  
  


I swallowed, nervously fumbling my fingers around themselves as I stood outside the big hall, waiting until my friends and family would join me. My brain couldn't quite process what had happened in the past hours yet, all I thought about was the fact that at any moment a handful familiar faces would step out of the door among my other colleagues - and I wouldn't be able to contain my feelings any longer.

"Hey there, inspector Schmidt." I heard a familiar voice approaching me from the side. I couldn't help letting my tears run freely as I looked into the sparkling blue eyes of my partner, it was just too much for me to handle anything in this very moment. I tried to say something, yet more than pained sobs didn't escape my mouth as Moritz pulled me against himself, cradling me in his arms.

"It's okay, let it out." my partner muttered, caressing my hair as I stained his fancy uniform with my tears.

"I've never seen someone throwing more stones off his chest than Jonas in this moment." Martin chuckled, me feeling the warmth of his hand on my back as he was too comforting me. He was right, I almost felt as if I was able to fly, that's how light my soul felt, all of a sudden. I found myself looking into Moritz' face again, my eyes deeply red and blurry from all the tears but his beauty was still visible nevertheless.

"I'm so proud of you, love." he smiled, brushing his thumbs over my cheeks to dry them off.

I still was unable to say anything, yet I fought out a smile and moved forward, finding his comforting lips with my own. If one thing had always gotten me euphoric it had been kissing Moritz, just feeling his love and how much he cared - I was almost addicted to this feeling.

Having slowly calmed down, I finally dedicated to giving Martin a hug just as intensely as my partner, yet not breaking into tears again (even if I really wanted to).

"I'm grateful for everything that happened. You will do this job well, I know that." he hummed as we let go of each other, the way he smiled at me flaming up my heart. _The caring parent, Martin was sticking back together all the damage my old family caused me to have._

"My puppy grew up!" Ben stated with a grin, the last of my companions, too spreading out his arms for a hug.

"You've been the best adviser one like me can have." I muttered into his shoulder, receiving a hug even stronger, almost getting crushed by Ben's arms.

"That's butter for my soul." he grinned, yet not letting me go before totally messing up my hair with his hands. He had always done it for the past 3 years, I stopped complaining about it because Ben was unstoppable and it didn't hurt me in any way. I took in what was the image of my three most important people in my life, again. I was grateful. I couldn't think of any other word describing it.

  
  


Writing a handful reports I was sitting in front of the computer in office 6, having half an ear for the counter where my colleague Erik stood. I met Erik only once I started my internships, even though I had been friends with Ben, now his husband, since the beginning. To Ben's surprise, Erik and I got along very well, which itself rarely happened because all of their friends either vibed with one of them, not befriending both of them equally good. I didn't mind it, they were amazing colleagues to work with.

The buzzing of the door made me shudder, I wanted to finish these reports so I hoped that the customers could be handled by Erik alone.

"... Jonas Schmidt ..." I heard, needing a second to realize my name was spoken, yet not by my colleagues but ... a voice that gave me immediate headaches, a voice that made me freeze, a voice that made me wanting to vomit, to hide in a corner, to cry.

"Please take a seat, I will get my colleague to help you in a second." Erik spoke, only a few seconds after he slipped into my office, almost smashing the door shut behind him.

"Don't." I huffed, clenching my hand around my pen.

"They are asking for you, a woman and a man, they have been searching for you." Erik shook his head, being well aware of who he just spoke to and why they were especially asking for me.

"Get Stephan and Tom, I need all of you to hold my back." I sighed, slowly raising from my chair.

"Will do. We're always standing behind you, and you remember what you are and that you can do it." Erik patted my shoulder, leaving me alone in silence again.

My birth-parents, they were here. They had searched me for all these years, at this point 4 since I ran away from them. My scars began itching while my head hammered like hell. I had to do it, I had to face them, I had to make them responsible for what they did to me - and now that I was a policeman I didn't have a reason not to report them.

I swallowed as I grabbed the door handle, looking at my trembling hands as I realized what I was going to do - facing the people two abused me for more than two decades.

"Jonas! We have been searching for you for so long!" I flinched as I heard the way too excited words from my birth-mother.

I looked at them, almost disgusted, but then I saw Stephan standing at the end of the hallway, and when I turned around I saw Erik and Tom standing behind the counter.

"You're hereby accused of a crime, you have the right to remain silent without a lawyer. You're accused of serious mayhem, physically just as mentally against me and I will make sure that you will get what you deserve." I stated, feeling my heart beating in my whole body.

"What do you mean? You ran away, we were searching for you!" my father asked, I felt that goddamned ball of tears clogging my throat as I realized again what situation I was in.

"I'm not your punching bag anymore, I'm a policeman now and you will never just get any near to me ever again." I exclaimed, turning towards Stephan.

"Please." I hummed, my colleague nodded as he dedicated to my birth-parents and I stumbled back into office 6.

I slumped onto my chair, feeling how the ball of hate and pain exploded and the tears once again ran freely down my face. Never did I think I would end up in this situation, that this all ever would happen to me. A comforting pat on my shoulder caught my attention, as I raised my eyes I looked into those of Tom, who gave me the most empowering smile he could.

Thank you, I formed on my lips without speaking, my colleague nodded before pulling me upwards and into his arms.

  
  


"I've never lived all by myself, you have to teach me." I chuckled as I stood in the half-empty flat, smiling at my partner who gave me back a grin equally excited.

"Don't worry, being an adult isn't hard and after all I am with you, you're never alone." Moritz stated, grabbing my hand.

From there on, everything that counted was Moritz, my chosen father Martin and my colleagues who stood behind me and supported every step I took to fight back what had ruined the majority of my young life.

I felt free, for the first time in my life. Freedom. And Happiness.

**Author's Note:**

> My sooooooooooon. Ahem. Yes Stecker is a thing in this fic, they gay. It took me half a year to write this fic so please be polite.


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